COVID-19 cases are on the decline, but more and more Canadians are getting sick with the flu across the country, Canada’s top public health officer said Friday.“We’re seeing influenza activity increasing up to the seasonal threshold despite the opposite trends being expected this time of year,” Dr.
Theresa Tam, the nation’s chief public health officer,told reporters during a federal COVID-19 update.Without many COVID-19 health mandates like masking in effect in most places across the country, cases of the flu have increased, according to Tam.“One of the things we’ve learned about the use of public health measures for COVID-19 in the past two years is that they were also effective in reducing the prevalence of other infectious diseases.
Our reduced contact rates may have interrupted transmission of other diseases such as influenza,” said Tam.“Personal protective habits help reduce the spread of COVID-19 as well as other risky transactions during diseases,” she added. “This is a reminder that our efforts are still needed.”According to a report from the federal government, cases of the flu have sharply increased since the beginning of April.From May 8 to May 14, 2,121 laboratory detections of the flu were reported.
The percentage of visits for influenza-like illness was 1.8 per cent during this time period, exceeding pre-pandemic levels typical of this time of year.